Norwegian energy giant Equinor has booked for the first time capacity at the FSRU-based LNG import facility in Lithuania’s Klaipeda port.
Equinor and two other firms booked in total 8.9 terrawatt hours (TWh) of LNG during initial bidding for the gas year starting on October 1, terminal operator Klaipedos Nafta said on Monday.
With the booking, the Norwegian firm is planning to support its operations in the Baltic Sea region, according to Klaipedos Nafta. Equinor’s closed Hammerfest plant has previously regularly supplied Lithuania with LNG.
Terminal users ordered capacity not only to meet Lithuania’s demand for gas, but also to supply it to Latvia, Estonia and Finland, Klaipedos Nafta said.
The terminal, which includes Hoegh LNG’s 170,000-cbm FSRU Independence, has a total capacity of 39 TWh.
Klaipedos Nafta said last year companies had booked 8.4 TWh during the annual capacity allocation procedure, while an additional 12.3 TWh was booked during the gas year.
During the current gas year which ended June 1, Lithuania received 49 LNG carriers, compared to 50 in the same period before. Most of the LNG came from the US.
This year, companies booked the largest amount of capacities but Klaipedos Nafta also expects spot volumes to rise significantly.
“Due to the constantly changing prices of natural gas in the global and European markets, the terminal’s customers more often choose to purchase LNG cargo from the spot market and order the necessary capacity during the course of the gas year,” the firm said.
Klaipedos Nafta expects that in the gas year of 2021, the volume of regasification coming from spot cargoes would be twice as high compared to the pre-ordered capacities.
